Wednesday, January 19, 2011

I've been promising you a reading list for 2011. It's done and you can find it here.

You can also get to the page anytime on the top right hand side of the blog... just click '2011 Reading List'.

I want to give my reading some direction this year and a list will also make it easy for me to order ahead from the library or buy on Amazon or Book Depository.

There are some books listed that I should have read years ago (and I'm almost embarrassed to admit I haven't) and others I may struggle to finish. Many have won or been shortlisted for awards but that is not the only reason they're there. In fact some are there despite that. Like movies I tend to go off a book if I hear too much about it.

I would love to know if you think there's a book I should add. Or one I should take off the list!

I don't do self-help books - blogging my New Year's resolutions is about as 'self-help' as I get and I haven't even done that yet this year. I'm really trying not to fall back into reading too many crime yarns (Sayers is new to me so that's ok) and I am banning aiport-lite chick lit (mostly!).

One book I definitely won't EVER be reading is Little Vampire Women. I came across it on my book search and couldn't quite believe that a) someone has written it b) someone else published it and c) people are buying it. Surely they're not reading it too?!

By the way, you can buy the pictured book jackets here. I thought they'd make great wrapping paper for a book gift but I certainly will not be covering the books on my shelf. That would be a little odd...

13 comments:

Oh those book covers are fantastic. I will check them out. I will also check your book list...i am a bit hit & miss when it comes to books and have been known to start one book when I have nt finished another but eventually try to get back to them. Just need more hours in the day unfortunately !! Mel xx

I felt so let down by the Guernsey Potato Pie book (inadequately plotted and trite) that I went off books entirely for a month. But Nancy Mitford would win me back anytime. Have you tried the Diary of a Provincial Lady?

Love your list. I may steal a few of your titles for my reading pleasure this year. I've read three books in 2011 so far, which is a big deal for me. They weren't heavy reads which is why I read them so quickly. Ha!One Day by David Nicholls, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger (I never saw the film, so now I can say I read the book first!)

Great list! After 4 months on the waiting list I am off to the library at lunch to pick up Jonathan Franzen's Freedom. I hope it is a bit perkier than the last "grown up" book I tried to read, Revolutionary Road.......:)

On recommendation The Quest For Justice by Ken Crispin is next on my list Ann. It's quite academic, so I'll have to look very serious as I read it! As I'm a crime buff I need to broaden my horizons a bit this year. Your list looks awesome. Millie x

Squeal! I've been waiting for this list. Ann, we have so many books in common on our wishlists.

I want to read 'March' as well as her 'People of the Book' - have you read that? Hmm, I've heard so much about 'The Slap' but I don't know if I have the gumption to read it. 'The Corrections' has been sitting by my bed for 5 years...I read the 'Guernsey et al' - it was a quick read, light and entertaining but not thought-provoking. And yes, those Mitford girls are just inimitable. Oh, and promise me you'll buy your books using Booko - you'll save a fortune! J x

On your recommendation (I recall reading some rave review on your blog) I picked up a copy of A Simpler Time by Peter Fitzsimons. Loved it! Wish I could have at least half the patience and optimism as his mum! A really lovely read. I don't think it was a book I would have chosen myself so thanks for the recommendation. I will now have to go through this list and choose my next read!

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'A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.'

Virginia Woolf, 1929

I have neither so I blog.

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Reading...

What I've just read...

A book club choice but I recommend. It's set in Perth during the post war polio outbreak. I like her writing (others do too - she won a few awards) and it prompted me to read much more about the polio outbreak.

What I'm reading...

The Golden Age - Joan London

The Secret Place - Tana French

I've read all her books this summer and this is the last - a new to me crime writer. She's Irish and it's not the usual gritty tortured detective noir.

What I'm reading next...

Commonwealth by Ann Pratchett, by next Wednesday for bookclub... I like to live on the edge and will probably start it on Monday.